“Gloria”

When little girls imagine a “happily ever after,” they definitely don’t see themselves living like the title character in the lovely Chilean film, “Gloria.”

On the surface, Gloria seems like the complete opposite of a storybook ending.

She’s a single, 58-year-old woman who dances at nightclubs, lives in a cluttered apartment and has a somewhat estranged relationship with her adult children. She wears glasses that are too large and sometimes drinks too much.

But Gloria is far from a sad character.

Director Sebastian Lelio paints﻿ a subtle picture of a self-assured, independent woman who is sometimes sad but is more often happy, ready to take on life’s adventures. She’s brought to life by actress Paulina Garcia, who infuses Gloria with such charm and radiance that the character becomes even more appealing the longer the movie goes on.

The film, which has become a festival favorite, doesn’t follow a formulaic Hollywood trajectory but prefers to stick closer to real life. With a different director and actress, it would be mundane, but with Gloria happily singing along to pop songs on the radio or putting on lipstick in nightclub bathrooms, it’s a joy to watch.

We follow Gloria to yoga class where her daughter teaches, then to a party that offers nothing more than a beautiful rendition of the song “Aguas de Marco (Waters of March),” and finally to an apartment where an unstable neighbor yells out into the night.

There are also various unglamorous bedroom scenes, like one in which a man opens a girdle from around his belly and two middle-aged bodies fill the screen. The kisses are passionate and sloppy.

But the main love interest and the most linear storytelling is through Rodolfo (Sergio Hernandez), a recently divorced older man Gloria meets at her regular nightclub. He’s handsome and reserved and is drawn to Gloria’s optimism. She may be independent, but he hasn’t completely severed ties with his ex-wife and needy grown daughters, and that weighs on their relationship.

Their romance is far from a happily ever after, but Gloria’s life — complete with loneliness, joy and frustration — is much more interesting than that.